The Splendor of the Red Chamber

Lin Ruhai passed away at 9:30 PM on the third day of the ninth lunar month.

Before he died, he specifically called Jia Lian and Lin Daiyu to his bedside and entrusted Jia Lian to take good care of his cousin in the future.

Jia Lian had made preparations in advance. Upon seeing Lin Ruhai pass away, he immediately ordered people to collect the coffin and instructed the servants to perform their respective duties.

Then he prepared all the necessary documents and sent someone to the Yangzhou government to report the circumstances of his death and apply for the funeral document according to the rules.

On one hand, he dispatched a special messenger to the Rongguo Mansion with utmost urgency to inform them of the tragic news of Lin Ruhai's death and his own plans for handling the situation.

Just when things were almost done, Zijuan rushed over to invite them, saying that Lin Daiyu had been staying by the coffin without eating or drinking, and had almost cried all her tears.

"No matter how hard Xueyan and I tried to persuade him, we couldn't get through to him. We can only ask Second Master to go and talk to him himself!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian hurriedly ordered someone to prepare some tea to clear heat and reduce internal fire, and rushed to the mourning hall with Zijuan.

Upon arriving at the mourning hall, they saw Lin Daiyu, dressed in mourning clothes, sitting against the wall with her legs drawn up to her chest. She seemed to have lost her soul, neither making a sound nor speaking, except for two lines of clear tears streaming down her face.

Jia Lian sighed, walked over and sat cross-legged beside her, reached out and patted her head, and advised, "Sister, please take care of yourself. If your uncle is watching from heaven, he would never want to see you cry yourself sick."

"elder brother."

Lin Daiyu looked up with tear-filled eyes, choking back sobs, "I...I...Father is gone too. From now on, I'll be all alone, never again..."

"Doesn't the old lady love you?!"

Jia Lian interrupted her, saying, "I can't guarantee anything for others, but since your uncle entrusted you to me before he passed away, your sister-in-law and I will definitely treat you like our own sister. How can you say you're all alone?!"

"elder brother!"

Lin Daiyu already regarded Jia Lian as a kind of elder to rely on, and Lin Ruhai's dying wish to entrust his orphan to her made her even closer to him and more attached to him.

Upon hearing this, she couldn't contain her emotions and threw herself into Jia Lian's arms, bursting into tears.

Jia Lian held her, gently patted her back, and comforted her for a long time like a child, until Lin Daiyu finally stopped crying.

Jia Lian then asked Zijuan to bring tea, which he personally fed to Daiyu.

After Lin Daiyu calmed down, she felt a little ashamed, but she was also reluctant to leave Jia Lian's broad and steadfast embrace.

In her hazy childhood memories, her father, Lin Ruhai, would often hold her on his lap, tell her stories, and feed her.

But upon returning to Yangzhou, Lin Ruhai remained bedridden and had no strength left to carry her.

So it wasn't until now that Lin Daiyu found some traces of her former self in Jia Lian.

She cherished and longed for this feeling, and for a moment she was reluctant to get up.

Jia Lian noticed Lin Daiyu's inner turmoil and hesitation. After feeding her tea, he simply pressed her head back into his arms, patted her back, and hummed a nursery rhyme.

Lin Daiyu felt even more ashamed, but she was also increasingly reluctant to part with this tenderness.

She was already exhausted from crying, and after a while of thinking wildly, she fell asleep in Jia Lian's arms.

In her dream, Lin Daiyu saw her father and mother again, and they took turns holding her in their arms affectionately. So she subconsciously hugged Jia Lian tightly as well.

Seeing this, Zijuan quietly brought bedding to wrap the two of them up, and looked at Lin Daiyu lying in Jia Lian's arms, hesitant to speak.

Although Jia Baoyu loves to flirt with other women, if he knew that Lin Daiyu had been held by Lian Erye all night, he would probably be extremely jealous.

However, after much hesitation, Zijuan ultimately decided not to disturb the two and instead returned to the door to instruct Xueyan to keep the secret.

Early the next morning.

Lin Daiyu was awakened by the noise outside. She looked up and stared blankly around for a while before realizing that she was lying in Jia Lian's arms, while Jia Lian had already fallen asleep against the wall.

Recalling the scene of her rushing into Jia Lian's arms and crying last night, Lin Daiyu felt her face burning.

She instinctively tried to struggle to get up from Jia Lian's arms, but accidentally bumped into something unexpected.

At first, Lin Daiyu didn't realize what was going on, but when she understood what was happening, she screamed and jumped up in fright.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?!"

Jia Lian was also so frightened that he jumped up and saw Lin Daiyu covering her eyes and retreating in a panic. Out of the corner of his eye, he clearly saw her eye landing on a spot three inches below his navel.

He paused for a moment before realizing what was happening and quickly explained, "This is a normal physiological phenomenon; young men can't avoid it in the morning... Sigh, why am I telling you this? Have your sister-in-law tell you when we get back to the capital, so you won't be confused and clueless later!"

To avoid further embarrassment for Lin Daiyu, Jia Lian simply left the mourning hall to arrange the funeral arrangements.

After Jia Lian left, Lin Daiyu gradually calmed down.

Thinking back on what just happened, Jia Lian didn't seem to have done it on purpose, or had any ulterior motives.

Perhaps it's true, as he said, that young men all...

However, this was the first time the young girl had encountered such an awkward situation, and she couldn't hold her tongue any longer, keeping her head down for most of the day without speaking to Jia Lian.

It wasn't until evening, when she saw that Jia Lian, who had been busy all day, looked tired, that she thought of taking the initiative to ease the tension.

Just as she was about to speak, she heard that Sheng Wei and Madam Li had arrived in Yangzhou with their son, daughter, and Minglan.

Recalling Zijuan's message, Lin Daiyu frowned: "She actually came?!"

As she spoke, she bit her cherry lips and looked at Jia Lian, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself.

Jia Lian stood up, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "Sister, rest assured, I will definitely not do anything reckless in the Lin family. However, if I reach an agreement with the Sheng family in the future and wish to take the eldest daughter of the Sheng family as a concubine or mistress, I would appreciate it if you would not make things difficult for her for my sake."

"Hmph~"

Lin Daiyu turned her head with a tense expression and sneered, "Why would I make things difficult for her for no reason? I'm afraid she won't be able to get past Sister Feng in the capital!"

"You don't need to worry about that, sister. I have a clever plan."

Jia Lian kept everyone in suspense for a moment, then went out to entertain the Sheng family.

Lin Daiyu returned to the mourning hall, but the more she thought about it, the angrier she became. This Lian Erge was good in every way, except that he was confused about lust!

If we really bring Sheng Shulan back to the capital as a concubine, how could Sister Feng, with her fiery temper, possibly let him go?!

While she was sulking, Sheng Minglan came looking for her alone.

Lin Daiyu instinctively wanted to get up and greet her, but thinking of Sheng Shulan, she couldn't help but feel resentment towards her because of her family, so she kept a straight face and didn't move.

Minglan was very good at reading people, and seeing this situation, she knew that Lin Daiyu had probably already figured it out.

So she quietly sat down next to Lin Daiyu and said softly, "Don't blame Sister Shulan too much. In the end, it was Uncle and Aunt who wanted to climb the social ladder. Otherwise, she wouldn't have suffered in the Sun family for so many years."

Lin Daiyu glanced at Minglan and sneered, "Your cousin is no pushover either."

Minglan thought that it was Shulan who took the initiative to come to Yangzhou, and said with a wry smile, "Isn't it because your brother is too outstanding? Not only is he of noble status, but he is also as handsome as Pan An and dashing. If other girls received his help, they would probably have the delusion of giving themselves to him."

Lin Daiyu thought this made sense. Her brother was so outstanding now, it was no wonder that others couldn't resist him.

Then she couldn't help but ask, "You're included too?"

"I?"

Minglan shook her head firmly: "I mean I would never become someone's concubine, let alone try to climb the social ladder by marrying into a wealthy or powerful family. As long as he's not a fool who spoils his concubines over his wife, I'll let him be rich or poor as he pleases."

She recalled that her mother, Wei Xiaoniang, was forced to sell herself to the second wife of the Sheng family because of the family's decline, becoming a victim of the power struggles among the Sheng family's wives and concubines, and ultimately died in childbirth.

Lin Daiyu also realized that her words were inappropriate, so she quickly reached out and took Minglan's arm, apologizing, "I didn't mean it, it's just that just now... sigh, remember to remind your cousin later that my sister-in-law is not easy to get along with, and she probably won't allow her to enter the house."

"Of course I know you didn't mean it."

Minglan grasped Lin Daiyu's soft hand and said with a wry smile, "However, judging from what my uncle and aunt mean, they probably won't mind letting her become the mistress of the young master... or the concubine of the second master Lian."

The eldest son's family are wealthy merchants, but they have low social status. Although they have a good relationship with our second son's family, we are already beyond the fifth degree of kinship by our generation. Besides, my father was only a fifth-rank official.

Now that they've found a golden opportunity to curry favor with the powerful, how could their uncle and aunt possibly let it pass easily?

As they were talking, Madam Li led Shulan and Pinlan into the mourning hall.

Minglan quickly grasped Lin Daiyu's hand and cast a pleading look at her.

Lin Daiyu was ultimately a soft-hearted person. Seeing her like this, she sighed inwardly and pretended to be nonchalant as she went to greet her.